Tile-trench digger



L. H. LARSON.

TILE TRENCH BIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-19.1918.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET lmm mm 3 3 L. H. LARSON.

TILE TRENCH DIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19. 1918.

Patented Jan. 6 1920.

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L. H. LARSON.

TILE 'TBENCH DIGGER. APPLiCATION mm OCT.

L. H. LARSON.

I Patented Jan. 6,1920.

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LOUIS H. LARSON, OF SANTIAGO, MINNESOTA.

TILE-TRENCH BIGGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 19, 1918. I Serial No. 258,840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis H. Larson, a citizen of the United States, resident of Santiago, county of Sherburne, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tile-Trench Diggers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a tile trench digging machine of comparatively light, simple construction and of large capacity, provision being made for loading and hoisting one bucket while the other one is being lowered and prepared for loading. This arrangement provides a large capacity in proportion to the weight of the machine and the power required for operating it.

A further object is to provide a machine of this type which will be easy to handle and move from one place to another and particularly adapted for digging a trench in low or wet ground.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a digger embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,

Fig. 3 is a detail View of the rear portion of the machine, showing the relative position of the bucket and carrier when the bucket is in its working position in the trench,

Fig. 4 is a view of the trench, showing the preferred taper or inclination of the side walls,

Fig. 5 is or dipper,

ig. 6 is a sectional view of the same,

Fig. 7 is an end view,

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the carriage in which the loaded bucket is seated,

Fig. 9 is a side view of the same,

Fig. 10 is an end view of the carriage,

Fig. 11 is a detail of the bucket tripping tile trench a top view of the trench bucket device.

In the drawing, 2 represents suitable shoes or runners upon which the machine frame 3 is ounted. This frame is of comparatively light construction to reduce the weight of the machine as much as possible. 4E is a gas meshing with-a similar gear 10 upon engine of any suitable type, mounted in the lower portion of the frame and having a drive shaft 5 provided with a direct gear 6 to a winding drum 7, said gear being loosely mounted on the shaft and locked thereon when desired by means of a clutch 8. The drive shaft is also provided with a gear 9 a shaft 11 having a gear 6 loosely mounted thereon and locked by means of a clutch 8. By this mechanism the drum may be driven in either direction, as desired. An oscillating rod 12 is provided between the clutches for throwing one clutch in working position when the other clutch is thrownout' and this rod is preferably actuated through an oscillating plate 13 pivoted at one end and having a slot 14: to receive the end of the rod and a means at the other end for attaching cables thereto, as will hereinafter appear.

The plate 13 is weighted and when it swings past the center of its'pivot in either direction it will drop by gravity the remainder of its stroke and complete the movement of throwing in the clutch. 'This is important, as it is evident when the clutch through which power is transmitted to the drum is released by the movement of "the bucket and carriage, that revolution of the drum will temporarily cease until the other clutch is thrown in and some mechanism is necessary for operating this second clutch to again set the drum in motion in a reverse direction. This feature will be referred to later in the specification.

The frame of the machine has rails 14 and lt arranged in pairs upon opposite sides of the machine, forming inclined ways and these ways preferably converge from the top to the bottom of the machine so that at their lower ends they are comparatively near together, while at their upper ends they Patented Jan. 6, 1920. I

are separated a considerable distance. This is for the purpose of convenience in delivering the buckets from the trench to the ways and depositing the .soil carried up 'by the buckets at a suitable distance from the walls of the trench on each side. Obviously it is desirable to have the lower ends of the ways as near as practicable to the trench to facilitate deliverin the buckets thereto while the upper endsthe ways should be a considerable distance" apart so that there will be plenty of room for the discharge of the soil on each side'of'the trench without danger of its falling back therein. Amplespace for the discharge of the soil as above described is provided for by the spread or divergence of the ways from their lower to their upper ends. This is plainly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing.-

Between the pairs ofways I provide a beam supported in a substantially horizontal. position on the frame of the machine at one end and at its opposite end by means of an inclined brace 16. This beam has a sheave 1'? at its outer end. A cable 18 passes over this sheave and is attached to a drum 19 provided with a worm wheel 20 that is revolved by means 01 a worm 21 on a crank 22. By operating this crank, the cable 18 can be wound on the drum or unwound therefrom, as desired. A boom 23 is pivoted at 24: on the inner rails of the ways and extends outwardly under the beam 15 and to the outer end of this boom the cable 18 is attached so that when this cable is wound up the boom will be raised and lowered when the cable is unwound.

Rods 2e are mounted on the boom 23 and project upwardly and forwardly therefrom and rings 25 are slidable on these rods and are attached to cables 26 which extend from the rings down to a cross bar 27 provided in the forward end of a bucket or dipper 28. These cables 26,'there being two of them, one on each side of the boom, regulate the depth of cut of the buckets and when the buckets are raised in the ways, the rings 25 will slide upwardly on the guide rods 24 to the upper turned ends thereof and then, when the buckets are lowered, these rings will slide downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3. The boom preferably is provided with a hanger 29 having curved guide arms 30 projecting outwardly therefrom with which the cable 26 contacts for holding it in place and guiding it during the descent of the bucket. I prefer to provide a guide wheel 16 on the incl ned brace 16 in position to engage and guide the buckets into the carriages supported on the ways.

In using the machine, the guide arms 30 are adjusted by raising and lowering the boom to a position in line with the leveling stakes, and as the character of the ground changes these guide arms are raised or lowcred and kept in line with the stakes, so that the bucket will operate at the same depth regardless of any inequality of the surface OVGP 17111011 1110 mQ! l\;1'\I) in 3'Y\I\'\'Y;1'\m 1", A

of sheet metal or the form indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, open at the top and at the forward end and of suitable width to form a trench of sutlicient size to receive the tile, the bottom being rounded to form a trench of that form, the depth of which is governed by the guiding cable 26 and the char acter of the soil where the machine may be working.

The rear end of the bucket has a gate 31 hinged at 32 and normally closed by gravity. A bracket 33 is mounted on this gate, projecting upwardly and rearwardly therefrom and a latch 34: is mounted on the bucket walls in position to enter a notch in said bracket and normally lock it and the gate in their closed position. A lever 35 is pivoted on the bucket and is provided with a spring 36 and a link 37 connects said lever with the latch 34. When the lever 35 is tripped, the latch will be disengaged from the notch in the bracket and the pressure of the soil in the bucket will open the gate and allow its contents to be discharged. As soon as the pressure of the lever .35 is released, its spring will return it to its normal position and gravity will close the gate 31 and allow' the latch 34 to reenter the notch in the bracket and again lock the gate.

A lifting cable 38 is attached to the forward end of the bucket at 39 and extends up over the inclined way to a sheave 40 and from thence to the drum 7. A similar cable 38 is attached to the drum 7 and passes over a sheave 10 and from thence to the other bucket, the revolution of the drum winding up one cable to pull the bucket up to its dumping position while the other cable is unwound to allow its bucket to drop by gravity back to the lower end of its way, where it can be grasped by the workman and placed in the ditch for ire-loading.

To reduce friction in the operation of raising the buckets, I prefer to provide each. way with a carriage 41 having wheels d2 to roll on the ways and guides 43 between which the bucket is drawn. The carriage is normally locked on the way by means of a latch 44 pivoted thereon and adapted to enter a notch 45 in the way. This latch is in the path of the forward end of the bucket to be tripped thereby when the bucket has been drawn into the carriage a sufficient distance and then continued pull. on the elevating ing blades mounted to sweep the inner surface of the buckets and scrape off any sticky soil or clay which may be adhering thereto.

Near the upper end of each way I provide a crank-like member 51 connected by cables with the oscillating plate 13, said cranks projecting into the path of the carriages so that when struck thereby the clutches will be automaticallyshifted to revolve the drum firstin one direction and then in the other and alternately lower and hoist the buckets.

As heretofore mentioned, the engagemen of the cranks 51 with the carriages will move the weighted plate 13 from a position on one side of its pivot to a point on the opposite side thereof, and then the weight of the plate, acting through the force of gravity,

will be suflicient to throw in a clutch and start the drum.

For moving the machine forward I prefer to provide a drum 53 having a cable 54 that is attached to some fixed object at a distance so that when the drum is revolved and the cable wound thereon the machine will be drawn slowly over the ground. For operating the drum, I prefer to provide a shaft 55 driven from the gas engine and geared to a. shaft 56 which is in turn geared to the drum 53. By this mechanism the machine may be moved at the desired speed for excavating which will, of course, depend upon the character of the soil and the depth of the ditch.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for digging a trench comprising a frame, inclined ways mounted in said frame and converging from their upper toward their lower ends, excavating buckets mounted in said ways, means for raising one bucket while the other bucket is descending, the spread of said ways providing clearance for the ascending and descending buckets.

A. trench digging apparatus comprising a frame mounted for movement over the soil to be trenched, said frame having inclined ways therein upon each side of the center thereof, said ways converging from their upper to their lower ends, excavating buckets mounted to slide in said ways, means for raising one bucket and lowering the other one simultaneously and means for dumping the loadedbucket at a predetermined point in its upward movement.

3. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, inclined ways mounted therein and converging from their upper toward their lower ends, carriages mounted in said Ways, buckets mounted to move into said carriages and means for raising or lowering each bucket and the carriage therefor, the spread of said ways providing sufficient clearance to allow said carriages to pass each other in ascending and descending and means for dumping said buckets at predetermined points.

4:. An aparatus for digging trenches comprising a frame adapted to straddle the trench, ways mounted at an incline insaid frame and converging from their, upper toward their lower ends, carriages mounted to slide in said ways and means at the lower ends of said ways for limiting the downward movement of said carriages, buckets mounted to move into said carriages and means connected with said buckets for raising them out of the trench into a carriage, the continued operation of said raising means moving the carriage upwardly in said ways, one carriage ascending while the other one is descending, and means for discharging the buckets of their contents at a predetermined point in their raising movement.

5. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, a pair of inclined ways mounted to converge from their upper I toward their lower ends in said frame, excavating buckets mounted to slide in said ways, a boom and hoisting means attached to said boom for raising and lowering it, and depth controlling cables attached to said boom for varying the depth of cut of said buckets.

6. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, a palr of inclined ways mounted therein,'a beam projecting horizontally between said ways, a boom mounted to oscillate between said ways, a cable supported on said beam and having a hoisting means and attached to said boom for raising or lower ing it, excavating buckets mounted to slide in said ways and having hoisting cables and depth controlling cables attached to the forward portions of said buckets and having loose connections with said boom, the adjustment of said boom raising or lowering said hoisting cables to vary the depth of cut of said buckets.

7. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, a pair of inclined ways mounted to converge from their upper toward their lower ends in said frame, buckets mounted to travel in said ways and means for raising and lowering said buckets, means supported above and between said ways for regulating the depth of cut of said buckets, and means for raising and lowering said buckets in said ways.

8. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, having inclined ways therein, said ways spreading from their lower toward their upper ends to adapt the apparatus for narrow dltches, buckets mounted to travel in said ways, means for ralsmg and lowering said buckets, a boom supported be tween said ways having loose connections with said buckets for regulating the depth of cut thereof, and a guide wheel mounted between the lower portions or" said ways.

9. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame a pair of inclined ways mounted therein, a boom mounted to oscillate vertically between said ways, excavating buckets mounted to slide in said ways, hoisting cables for said buckets, depth controlling cables connected to said buckets and to said boom, and guide arms carried by said boom and alined with the top of the leveling stakes by the vertical adjustment of said boom.

10. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, inclined ways mounted therein and spreading from their lower toward their upper ends to adapt the apparatus for narrow ditches, carriages mounted to slide in said ways, buckets adapted to enter said carriages and move therewith in said ways, means connected with said buckets for raising them and said carriages and a guide wheel provided between the lower portions of said ways for guiding the buckets into said carriages.

11. A trench digging apparatus comprising a frame, inclined ways mounted therein, excavating buckets mounted to slide in said ways, one bucket moving up its way while the other bucket is descending in the other way, a boom supported above said ways, depth controlling cables attached to said buckets, and rods mounted on said boom and projecting upwardly and forwardly therefrom and on which rods said,cables are slidable.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of October, 1918.

' LOUIS H. LARSON. 

